Husbandry
The last sentence is a scream.
Singapore PM: Get married and have more kids
The Associated Press
August 17, 2008
Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong is calling on his country's youth to get married younger and have more children.
Lee says the city-state's fertility rate is only 1.29 children per woman, well below the 2.1 needed to replace the population.
Lee blames some men for having conservative attitudes and expecting wives to be obedient. Women must also value marriage more, and not just focus on a work career, Lee says in a televised speech.
Lee encourages parents to attempt to match their children with possible spouses.
(Source)
posted by -ben | 7:10 AM
5 Comments:
Why feel pressured either way? If you want to get married, fine. If you don't, then don't.
I guess that's not good enough for some people. They think there's too much freedom in the world... they need to tell others what to "want" for themselves...
Hi. Thanks for dropping by previously. Are you Singaporean?
"Women must also value marriage more, and not just focus on a work career
Lee encourages parents to attempt to match their children with possible spouses."
With the first bit, our dear PM needs to remember that a career does not 'forget' to call you, or flirt with other hotter women or tell you your outfit sucks. Neither will it ever 'forget' to take out 3 day old trash so you have to do it. ;)In that way, a career may be more fulfilling than a man, but hey, I'm married, what do I know?
As for the second one, when my parents used to hint that a particular boyfriend was suitable for me, I'd drop him like a hot rock. Also, no matter how nice and hot a man may be, if he ever uttered the words "I'd like (insert number) of kids." He'd be outta my door so fast, he won't know what hit him. :p
With people like me, our country's birth rates don't stand a chance.
Introduce legislation requiring singles to participate in at least one fully-subsidised SDU activity.
We should not overlook another related issue of too many men and women staying unmarried. The number is sizeable and is worth paying more attention to for a more comprehensive solution to boost the birth rates. The Social Development Unit (SDU) can do its part by not just waiting for these singles to register with them; they should be proactive and reach out to them. One way is to ask companies to nominate unmarried singled for their various activities, fully-subsidised by the Government. If this does not work, the next step could be the mandatory approach. The SDU could compile a database of unmarried men and women above the age of 26 or older and introduce legislation requiring these singles to participate in at least one fully-subsidised SDU activity.
(Keng Hian, Lim. Letter. "Forum." The Straits Times [Singapore] 22 Aug. 2008: A32.)
Don't blame foreigners for fewer flags this year.
Last but not the least, if the nation is facing a grave problem, then the citizens, who are stake-holders, should come to the rescue. Isn't it time for Singaporeans to stand up and be counted, and at least have children for the sake of the nation?
(Grover, Manish. Letter. "Forum." The Straits Times [Singapore] 23 Aug. 2008: A36.)
Any one want to guess when the line, "Every Sperm is Sacred," will be inserted into the national anthem?
:-P
This gets better and better!
JC students to learn all about love
By Carolyn Quek
For years, it focused on getting single graduates to meet, mingle and
marry. More recently, it turned its attention to polytechnic students.
Now the Government matchmaker is ready to spread the message of love to teenagers in junior college.
The Social Development Unit is seeking bids from those
willing to teach the 16-to-19-year-olds what they need to know about dating and finding the right partner in life.
The focus is on helping girls and boys to set goals for long-term love relationships, and shore up their confidence to relate with members of the opposite sex.
Hopefully, it will get them in the right frame of mind to want to eventually marry and have babies.
The winning bidder will have to produce teaching materials and
have a pool of at least 30 trainers.
The SDU wants the programme run as a pilot project, with a view to having it integrated into the JC curriculum. The 16 colleges have about 30,000 students.
The 24-year-old matchmaking unit was set up originally to fix the problem of graduates who remained unmarried into their 30s and beyond.
More recently though, it has trained its sights on younger people, helping universities fund social activities to get undergraduates together.
Last year, it started a so-called love elective at Singapore Polytechnic, to impart the finer points of coping with relationships.
The programme proved hugely popular, with places expanding from the initial 90 to 420 next semester.
Ngee Ann Polytechnic caught the love bug last October, and began teaching its students how to manage relationships using several methods, including analysing love songs.
Why the move to junior colleges now? Yesterday, an SDU spokesman would only say: 'Extending such courses to junior colleges is part of the effort.' She declined to reveal more.
Tender documents made public yesterday said the SDU
wants to 'build the foundation for meaningful relationships and marriage' by equipping young people with 'relationship skills' and a 'pro-family' mindset.
The SDU's latest effort comes at a time when the shortage of babies here
is back in the spotlight, with Government leaders mulling once again over the questions of how to get Singaporeans to marry and have babies earlier.
The problem is that couples are marrying later, and putting off having
babies. The current birth rate of 1.29 is much lower than the 2.1 needed for the population to replace itself.
Consultant pyschotherapist Richard Lim, 43, who runs a romance, love and sexuality module for Singapore Polytechnic students, thinks it is a good idea to get teenagers up to speed about relationships early.
'When they are younger and not caught up with their
careers, being able to reflect and clarify with experts about what they want in relationships will serve them well in the future,' he said.
Former SDU chief Mrs Tan-Huang Shuo Mei agreed, saying: 'It's not about encouraging JC students to get hitched, but about encouraging socialisation and developing a healthy view of relationships.'
carolynq@sph.com.sg
------------------------------------------
Anyone ancient enough to remember these lyrics?
Hey, teacher, leave those kids alone!
Post a Comment
<< Home